Fangs and Arrows
by Queen of Winterfell
Summary: When Allison's distant relative gets bitten by a werewolf and seeks out her help, she can't say no. With everything that's happened, she needs more family her age around. Ara didn't know what she was expecting when she came to Beacon Hills, but she definitely wasn't expecting any of this. -full summary inside. sterek. allydia. berica. might be isaac-oc
1. Prologue: The Bite is a Curse

**Fangs and Arrows**

_**Prologue: The Bite is a **__**Curse**__**  
**_

It was hard to tell how long I had been running. The hours meshed together to create a loop and I was just on repeat over and over again. Run. Steal something to eat. Sleep in the woods. Don't get noticed. When the sun rises, run again and don't stop until the sun falls. I kept track of where I was by the road signs. I went through Pennsylvania, Ohio, Kansas, Utah, Nevada, and a bunch of other states until I finally reached California. And from there, it was a straight shot to Beacon Hills. All I had to do was follow the signs.

As the sun started to set and then air became cool around me as I ran, I tried to keep my mind from remembering what had caused me to go on the run in the first place. But it was so hard to not think about because it was the freshest memory in my mind. And it would stay with me forever, because that one night, the night that everything changed, was the night that has now determined the rest of my life.

And it was scary, thinking about it. That one little thing—well, it was entirely _little_—could change the course of your life forever. What you thought you would be doing the next day would only be dreams and what you would actually be doing would become a nightmare.

The last vision you have of your parents, you want to be a happy one. Them smiling and hugging you and telling you how much they love you. Saying that everything will be alright. That's the vision we all want, but that's not what we always get. The last vision I had of my parents is of my mother crying and my father handing me a gun filled with silver bullets laced with wolfsbane.

Once shot in my head or heart and I would be dead.

This newly developed monster would cease to exist.

I looked from the gun to my mother to my father. They were waiting for me to kill myself. Fresh tears pooled my eyes and I reached for the gun, then withdrew my hand like I had come into contact with fire. I looked up at the ceiling and then back at the black gun resting in my father's outstretched palm.

I couldn't do it.

I knew that it was our way. It was part of our code. But the code had never been something I fully believed in, anyway. Sometimes rules were made just to be broke, and this was the perfect time to be the defiant teenager I was and break about a million rules. So, instead of taking the gun like I should have, I turned on my heals and ran out the door with such speed, not even the bullet my father shot could catch me.

I was always taught that the bite was a curse.

But I would learn that it was the greatest gift you could get.

* * *

**A/N: so. a new story. one i hope to finish. ugh. so this takes place when s3a starts, and it will follow the general plot with some tweaks and some things will be different.**

**Couples:sterek  
allydia  
berica  
and probably this will turn out to be an isaac-oc story. so.  
**

**summary: Ara was always taught that the bite was a curse. It being in the Code, something people like her followed religiously, it must have been true. But even though Ara was part of a Hunter family, didn't mean she believed in everything they stood for. So when she's bitten by a rogue omega and her best friend is killed, she flees her home rather than kill herself. Her parents don't go looking for her, because, well, she's no longer their daughter; their daughter is dead. So she runs across the United States to Beacon Hills California, where the only people alive can help her. Her distant relatives, Allison and Chris. Ever since they became "monster lovers" as her parents put it, she hasn't been allowed any contact with them. But she desperately needs their help to tame the beast brewing inside of her. She sought them out for help. She didn't know that she was about to be dragged into a whole other mess.  
**

**so please review and let me know what you think!**

**Boyd and Erica are going to be kept alive because they didn't deserve to die and they're little angels so. Yeah. They're alive and kicking.**


	2. Stray

**Fangs and Arrows**

_**Chapter One: Stray**_

It was nighttime by the time I made it to Beacon Hills. The air had grown cool and a steady wind ruffled my hair as I walked. I wasn't running anymore because I didn't know where to run to. I had made it to Beacon Hills, but I didn't know where to find Allison or Chris. I couldn't pick up their scent because I didn't know what they spelled like. I checked some phone books when I entered the town, but they weren't listed. If I asked around, wearing these ratty clothes and my hair all in knots, people would think that I was a mental patient escaped from an insane asylum.

So I walked along the empty, fog bathed road. Tuning my ears to every twig snap and crunched leaf to make sure that I wasn't in any danger. A few miles away, I heard a car approaching. I dashed to the left, hiding behind some trees. If someone saw a girl walking alone on the side of the road, looking as rough as I did, it wouldn't end well at all.

The car grew near, and just as it was about to pass, it stopped. I cocked an eyebrow and tapped a finger against the tree trunk. What the hell were they doing? Two minutes passed and the car didn't move, so I decided to use my new abilities for some eavesdropping. (Hey, if you've got the power, use it. Right?) I tuned my ears into the car, and two female voices flooded my ears.

"What do you mean it won't start?" The first voice asked, smooth and light.

"I mean, it just stopped and it won't move!" The second voice wailed, raspy and sure.

"Did you run out of gas?"

"No." The second voice huffed. "It's completely full. The engine light isn't on, either. I have no idea what's wrong."

"Alright," The first voice sighed and began searching through her bag for something.

"What are you doing?"

"Calling Stiles to come pick us up."

"Why don't you just call a tow truck?"

"I am." I could practically hear the first girl rolling her eyes, and I chuckled. "But we'll need a ride home." She said tightly.

She started dialing numbers on her phone, but the second girl stopped her. "Allison, wait,"

_Oh my god. It can't be _that_ easy…_

"What is it, Lydia?"

"I see something…running in the fog."

"What is it?"

"I don't…"

And that's when I saw it: a huge deer heading straight for the car. If it hit them, and it was definitely going to, then there wasn't a doubt in my mind that they were going to die. So I did the only thing I could do; I let my instincts take over, and I rushed at the deer, smacking into it and sending it into the woods opposite of me before it could do any damage. We rolled around the forest floor until I smacked into a tree and it smacked into me. I bit my tongue to keep from screaming as I felt my arm bend out of place. Even though my bones could heal and I was basically invincible, getting hurt still hurt like a bitch. And breaking bones was not an exception.

I groaned, pushing the dead carcass off of me, and slowly stood to my feet. I bent my arm back in the right position and held it lightly as it started to heal. I walked out of the woods and back onto the street. Lydia and Allison were out of the car, staring straight ahead. Staring straight at me. I gulped and made a move towards them. Lydia hitched a breath and Allison stiffened, her whole body growing tense like if she had to, she would attack me with her bare hands to protect herself and the red head on the other side of the car.

There was no doubt in my mind that she wouldn't; she had Hunter blood in her, after all.

"Allison," I mumbled, holding my hands above my head, showing that I meant no harm. The short haired brunette squinted at me through the glare of the headlights. I took a few more steps forward and got no reaction from either of them. I sighed and lowered my hands. "Okay, listen, I know it's been awhile—seven years—but come on! Please don't tell me you've forgotten what I look like." I smiled crookedly and raised an eyebrow. Allison opened her mouth as if to say something, but then closed it quickly and just stared at me as if she didn't know what to say.

"Allison, who is this?" The short red head, Lydia asked as she rounded the side of the car to stand beside her friend. Her bright green eyes flicked from me to Allison and back again multiple times. I stayed quiet, rocking back on my heals. Slowly, Allison began to crack a smile, her dimples deepening.

"Lydia, this is Araleigh, my…distant cousin." Technically, I was her third cousin or something. My father was Chris' cousin and I was his second cousin, so I suppose that made me Allison's third cousin—but technicalities didn't matter at a time like this, right?

"Nice to meet you, considering the circumstances." I nodded to Lydia and she nodded back a little, her eyes scanning me up and down. Suddenly I felt self conscious about my ripped clothes and matted hair—not to mention the blood all over my skin from the deer I just killed so that it wouldn't kill them.

"Though, what are the circumstances?" Allison asked, raising an eyebrow. Even though she was asking, I knew that she already knew, because come on, there was only one explanation for super human strength and speed—well, if vampires existed I guess there would be two (let's hope vampires don't exist)—she knew I was a werewolf, yet she was still confused.

Hell, I was still confused.

I scratched the back of my head and grinned sheepishly. "Well, I'm a werewolf. Surprise!" I threw my arms up in the air like I was surprising her at a surprise party, but neither of the girls found it very amusing. I lowered my arms and scrubbed my hands over my face, suppressing a much needed wail of 'I hate everything'. "Alright, so, yeah, I'm a werewolf. But maybe we should talk about the details back at your house, yeah?" Allison nodded and then pulled out her phone again.

"Calling Stiles?" Lydia asked.

"No," Allison looked up at me and said, keeping her eyes locked with mine. "My dad."

**-X-**

Chris arrived ten minutes later, a tow truck behind him. The tow man, who wouldn't stop eyeballing me until I flashed my eyes at him, (what, he'll probably think he was hallucinating, anyway), got Lydia's car out of the way. Then Chris dropped Lydia off at her house, with a promise from Allison to call her tomorrow and tell her everything, and then we road back to their place in silence. I kept my eyes glued out the window, fiddling with some string on the end of my shirt nervously. Allison sat up front with her dad, she glanced back at me every few seconds, but Chris kept his eyes straight ahead on the road.

I began to wonder if I made a mistake coming here.

But they were the only hope I had left of leading a semi freaking normal life.

Chris turned down a large apartment complex and parked in front of the first building. They were four stories high, each, and each floor was one apartment. Fancy. Expensive. I followed behind the only family I had left up the stairs to the third floor, where Chris unlocked the front door and motioned for me to come in. I walked in slowly, cautiously. I knew they weren't going to hurt me, but I was so used to being on my toes around Hunters, cautiousness was a natural reflex.

The front door shut and a flush of warmth and acceptance and confusion washed over me. I turned to face Chris and Allison and forced a small smile. "What happened, Ara?" Chris asked, his bright blue eyes shining at me.

I took a deep breath and opened my mouth, "I was leaving a movie with my best friend and…an omega just attacked us. I recognized him as a member of a pack my dad helped kill a few weeks before. He was the only one who got away. He killed my best friend and then bit me. He said it was the best kind of revenge, biting a Hunter. I should have fought back, but I was too shocked and…Macie was dead. I saw her die." I sucked in a deep breath and held it for a few seconds, calming myself down so that I wouldn't cry. When I exhaled, I continued, "So I ran home and my dad wanted me to kill myself. It's the Code, of course. If a Hunter is bit they have to kill themselves so that they don't become what they hunt. But I wasn't…I didn't…I couldn't do it. I didn't want to kill myself…I wanted to live and…"

"We were the only place you could go." Chris finished for me.

I looked up at him with glassy eyes and nodded stiffly. "I'm sorry for just showing up. But…I know that if I learn how to control this…then I'll be okay. I don't wanna die."

"Nothing's going to happen to you." Allison said softly, coming to stand in front of me. She smiled and put her hands on my shoulders. "You're going to be okay here." She assured. Her heart was steady in rhythm. It was strange, being able to hear every beat now. Being able to hear and see things that I shouldn't. It was a scary thing, getting these abilities, but it was also amazing. Surreal, even.

But scary all the same.

"Ara, where are your parents?" Chris asked. Allison moved to stand beside me, looping her arm around my waist.

"Up in Maine. They won't come after me. I'm basically already dead to them, anyway." I muttered, crossing my arms over my chest.

"That's good." Allison said quickly. I looked at her with raised brows and Chris gave her a questioning look. "That they won't come after you. So you'll be safe." She clarified. I nodded and grunted, remembering the flash of my father's gun go off after me as I fled from my house. I clenched my fists tightly and felt my claws start to extract. I squeezed my eyes shut and took several deep breaths to try and calm myself down, but it wasn't working this time.

Imagines flashed through my head like a picture movie.

My mother crying.

My father's stone cold stare, all emotion drained from his face.

The black gun.

My mother crying.

Turning away from what I had—_should_—have done.

My mother crying.

Running out of the house.

My mother crying.

The gun going off behind me.

My mother crying.

My mother crying.

_My mother crying._

"Araleigh!" My eyes snapped open and I was standing in the hallway of Chris and Allison's apartment. I was up against the wall—how did I get there?—and Chris was standing in front of me, gripping me by the shoulders tightly.

"What?" I breathed heavily, blinking several times to try to get my golden eyes to shift back to their normal dark blue. I looked over at Allison, who didn't look to least bit worried or scared. I stared up at Chris, and once he knew that I was calm, he let me go. I unclenched my fists to see dried blood in my palms. "What happened?" I asked, my heart beat slowing down to its normal pace.

"You almost shifted." Chris said, going into the kitchen and then coming back out with a wet paper towel. He handed it to me and I cleaned my hands, then ran the cool paper over my face, trying to get rid of the heat that I was feeling. "You'll need to get a control over that right away." He looked over at Allison and she nodded.

"I know just the person to help you." She said with a smile. I raised an eyebrow, wondering who exactly it was. But I would ask her in the morning, because right now, I really needed to take a shower and eat some dinner.

While Chris called for takeout, Allison led me to the back of the apartment, where a guest room waited for me—and it had a joined bathroom! "We'll go shopping for clothes and stuff tomorrow. Until then, I think I have some clothes that will fit." She said, looking me up and down with a pursed mouth. I tugged on the bottom of my shirt, feeling self conscious again. Okay, so, I wasn't the skinniest person alive—definitely not as skinny as Allison—but I wasn't big, either. Maybe three sizes bigger than her.

"A dress would fit." I prompted, hopefully.

"What?" Her eyes grew wide. "Oh! No, I wasn't—I didn't mean to…" Her face started to turn red and I laughed, running my hands through my hair.

"Dude, it's totally fine. Don't worry about it." She gave me a crooked smile and I returned a full one.

"Okay, so, I'll go get you some pajamas and dinner will be here soon. We'll go to the mall tomorrow, okay?"

"Yeah, that sounds great. Fun. Normal."

She nodded. "Normal sounds fantastic."

"We have to catch up." I said suddenly, before she could leave the room. She turned back to me and I went on, "We haven't seen each other in seven years…we have a lot to talk about."

"Yeah," She nodded slightly. "We do." Then she smiled widely, showing off her adorable dimples. "Go get clean. You smell horrible. I'll put some clothes on your bed."

"Thanks." I said as she left the room, shutting the door behind her. I let out the small breath I had been holding and collapsed back on the bed. It was so soft, like feathers, though when I remembered that I was covered in blood and dirt and grime and lying on a white bed spread, I jumped back up. Before I caught myself in the large mirror above a huge vanity on the other side of the room, I rushed into the bathroom and stripped off my clothes. I ran the water as hot as I could handle it without melting off my skin, and stayed under the falling rain for thirty minutes, hoping that it would just wash away anything and everything I loathed.

My old life was dead.

The people in my old life were dead, too.

"Ara, I put some clothes on the end of your bed." Allison called from my new bedroom.

"Thanks!" I felt a small smile creep over my face as I lathered up my hair.

My new life was just beginning.

Only the new people in my life mattered, now.


	3. A Place to Call Home

**Fangs and Arrows**

_**Chapter Two: A Place to Call Home**_

"I hate you…I hate you…" The girl whispered, leaning over my mangled form. I squeezed my eyes shut and tried to ignore her, but she kept whispering things in my ear. The same things, over and over again. "I hate you. You did this to me. You're a monster. I hate you. I hate you. I hate you!"

"Leave me alone!" I shouted at the top of my lungs, opening my eyes. Ella was sitting on top of me, straddling my waist. She was grinning from ear to ear, though not with her mouth; the skin below her nose had been completely ripped off, so all that was visible was tendons and muscle and teeth.

"Now why would I do that?" Her breath ghosted against my cheek. It stank of death and hate. I felt the bile start to rise in my throat, but I forced it back down. Ella's hands circled around my throat and I tried to push her away, but I was too weak; my limbs felt like Jell-O. "You deserve to die." She sang, tightening her hold on my neck. I gasped for air, trying to give my lungs life, but it wasn't working; my lungs were burning and my heart was slowing. "You deserve to die." She repeated, like a chant.

I stopped struggling, what little struggle I was giving, and closed my eyes. Ella was right, I did deserve to die. I killed her, after all. I killed her, so it was only fair that she killed me.

I closed my eyes.

I stopped breathing.

"Ara! Ara, wake up!" Allison's frantic voice filled my head like an echo and then a harsh sting spread over the right side of my face. My eyes snapped open and my mouth fell shut. My throat was sore. I didn't even know I had been screaming.

"What?" I asked breathlessly, sitting up as Allison reached over and clicked on the lamp.

"You've been screaming for five minutes." She said, moving some hair out of her face. I looked up and saw Chris lingering in the doorway, his forehead creased in concern. Allison looked over at him and nodded, signaling to him that everything was okay. He gave a swift nod and then turned and walked back down the hall to his bedroom.

"I'm sorry…I didn't mean to wake you up." I mumbled, leaning my back against the cool wood of the headboard.

"No, it's—it's okay." She leaned back beside me, bumping her shoulder against mine. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, totally." I nodded furiously.

"Can I…what was your nightmare about?" She asked hesitantly.

"Uh…Ella." My voice cracked as I said her name. I coughed dryly and rubbed my eyes, smearing water on my cheeks. Really, I had been crying, too? "She was…killing me… Because I killed her."

"You didn't kill her, Ara."

I shrugged slightly. "I _got_ her killed."

We stayed quiet, and I was thankful for that. The silence was comforting. Not talking about the nightmare was comforting. Allison not asking any more questions was comforting.

After a while, she asked, "You want me to sleep in here tonight?"

"Absolutely." I said with wide eyes. Allison turned off the light and threw the blankets over us both. We scooted down the mattress until we were comfortable and turned towards each other.

"It's going to be okay." She whispered, reaching out and gripping my hand under the pillow.

I gave her fingers a little squeeze in return. "I know."

**-X-**

Allison filled me in on everything that's happened in the past year when we went shopping.

She fell in love with Scott, who happened to be a werewolf. She discovered that she was a werewolf hunter. Peter Hale, an avenging alpha, killed Kate (her aunt) because she burned down his house and killed most of his family (same alpha who turned Scott). Derek Hale killed Peter (because he killed his sister, Laura, to become alpha), who was his uncle, and now he's the alpha. Peter Hale came back from the dead with help from Lydia, who was under his control. Lydia's ex-boyfriend turned into a "homicidal lizard" (Kanima) but now he's a werewolf in London. Allison's mother was bitten by Derek for trying to kill Scott and she killed herself before she became a werewolf. Allison and Scott fell out of love and now they're close friends. Gerard (Allison's grandfather) tried to manipulate her but she came to her senses and now he's dying in a nursing home. Stiles is apparently something called a Spark. Lydia is a Banshee. Both Stiles and Lydia are studying magic and training to become Emissaries for Derek's pack.

Now we were on the way to Derek's loft, where apparently the whole "pack" was waiting to meet me, and I was thoroughly confused. "Okay, so Emissaries are…?" I trailed off, popping a French fry in my mouth as Allison stopped at a red light.

"People who are descendants from the ancient Druids." She said, nodding with every word.

I furrowed my eyebrows. "What are Druids?"

"They use ancient magic."

"Alright…so what is the purpose of Emissaries?" I shifted in the passenger seat, leaning my head against the window.

The light turned green and Allison accelerated on the gas. "They help werewolves stay close to their humanity and they offer advice when they need it."

"And they do magic?" I prompted with a raised eyebrow.

"Yes. They do magic." She clarified with a swift nod.

"So they're basically like witches."

She shrugged. "Something like that, though they're more connected with the earth. You should ask Lydia and Stiles more about it, because they're learning from Deaton. Though, they're learning more than just Emissary stuff; Lydia says they're learning ancient magic too." The way she said Lydia's name and talked about her so fondly with a warm smile on her face almost had me gushing. You didn't need my werewolf abilities to know that Allison was completely head over heels for this girl. Though I doubted she's told her how she felt.

Instead on intruding on my cousin's love life (I had plenty of time to do that later), I asked, "So you and Chris aren't Hunters anymore?"

She shook her head with absolution. "Nope."

"But you still have all your weapons?" I inquired.

She turned to me with a smile and rolled her eyes. "We're not defenseless."

I lifted my eyebrows and slouched back in my seat."Huh." I let everything that she had been saying for the past two hours sink in. There was so much more going on in Beacon Hills that I thought. I thought that I was out of questions, but something formed in the back of my mind. I crossed my arms over my chest and cocked my head to the side. "Wait, so Stiles and Derek are dating?" I looked over at my dark haired cousin and she nodded.

"Yep." She said brightly. Apparently her relationship with Derek was mending after the whole 'I-bit-your-mother-because-she-was-trying-to-kill-Scott-but-I-didn't-kill-her-she-killed-herself-because-of-the-stupid-Code'. They didn't hate each other, but they didn't love each other, either. They were pack, and apparently pack was the strongest thing there was.

"I thought they hated each other?" I questioned in mild confusion.

Allison laughed and turned down a narrow street. "Well, I mean, they didn't _exactly_ hate each other. They just didn't trust each other very much."

"But now they're boning each other?" I asked incredulously.

She looked at me slyly. "Yes."

I whistled and uncrossed my arms, scratching the back of my head. "Okay…and you and Scott?"

"Over." She said quickly. "Completely over. Just friends now."

"It's not awkward?" I asked as she parked the car in front of a large building. She unbuckled her seat belt and turned to me, shrugging slightly.

"I mean, we still love each other. It's just a sibling love. We realized that we didn't work together as a couple so…friendship."

I scratched my chin and thought I might as well go for it. "What about you and Lydia?" I could tell that hit a nerve, because she shifted in her seat, ran her hands through her hair, gulped, and small beads of sweat started forming on her temples.

"I have no idea what you're talking about." She turned from me and got out of the car. "She's my best friend." She said, shutting the door in my face. I smirked at myself and got out after her. I didn't press the issue anymore. But I would later.

We entered the building and walked up several flights of stairs in silence, the heels of our boots _click-clanking _on the concrete. We finally made it to a metal sliding door, and behind it I could hear some people arguing and a girl laughing wickedly.

My eyes shifted over to Allison and I asked, softly, "Derek's the alpha?"

She nodded. "Yeah. Erica, Boyd, and Isaac are part of his pack."

"Scott isn't?"

"No, he won't submit to him. But they're friends and they work together."

"So he's pack without actually being pack." I nodded in understanding.

"That's a way to say it, yeah."

"Will I have to submit to him?" I asked nervously. I mean, I needed an alpha, right? But I didn't want to submit to someone that I didn't even know. Nervousness was welling up inside of me and my palms started sweating. All of this, becoming part of a pack, finding an alpha, meant that all of this was real. I mean, I knew this was all very real when my best friend was torn up in front of me and my father tried to kill me, but…this was permanent.

And permanent was scary.

Noticing my discomfort, Allison put a hand on my shoulder. I looked up at her to see her giving me a soft smile. "Not if you don't want to. But Derek and Scott are going to help you. We're all going to help you. It's what pack does."

"You're all a strange pack." I pointed out.

She removed her hand from my shoulder and shrugged lightly. "We're not perfect, but we are family." She said softly, surely, her eyes glowing with pride and love. And I just stared at her in awe. Allison had been through hell and back, being manipulated and taken advantage of by her aunt and her grandfather, yet she was still so strong. "Ready to go in?" She asked, gripping the handle of the door. I nodded and she swung the door open, revealing a room full of werewolves and humans.

"And another thing," A tall, lanky guy with spiked dark brown hair said, wagging his finger in front of a tall, black haired man with broad shoulders and stubble. His arms were crossed over his chest and he had an unamused and uncaring look on his face. "It wasn't my fault my dad almost caught us. You're the one with the super enhanced hearing! You were supposed to tell me when he got home so he wouldn't walk in when—"

"Stiles, dude!" A Latino guy exclaimed, swatting the pale lanky guy on the arm to shut him up before he said what I was almost certain he was going to say (something about his dad walking in on them screwing, I was sure). Stiles turned towards me and sported a bright smile. The man he was arguing with earlier dropped his arms and stepped forwards.

"Guys, this is Araleigh Lincoln, my cousin." Allison pushed me farther into the loft and I twisted some black hair around my finger nervously. Lydia smiled at me from across the room. She was standing by a pretty curly blonde haired girl who was holding a cute black guys hand. Next to the Latino guy was an extremely tall pale, curly dirty blonde haired guy with—oh, wow, yep, those cheekbones could cut diamonds—the brightest blue eyes I had ever seen. I noticed, because he wouldn't stop eyeing me until the Latino guy jabbed him in the side. He looked away quickly and crossed his arms over his chest. I raised an eyebrow, suppressing a smirk.

"I'm Derek." The tall, dark broody man said.

"Yeah, I know." I said with a small smile. He raised his eyebrows at me in question. I shrugged. "Allison said you have…expressive eyebrows." I said, wiggling my eyebrows for emphasis. Allison coughed from beside me, humming uncomfortably. The tips of Derek's ears turned a light shade of pink and he gave her a seething glare. She tried—and failed—to hide a smirk and stealthily stepped away from me to go stand beside Lydia.

_Traitor. _

"I like her already." Stiles cackled. Derek turned to him, giving him a death glare, but the boy didn't seem fazed by it at all. He grinned back at his boyfriend, shrugging. Derek huffed, shaking his head, and then turned his glare on me and flashed his red alpha eyes. I stepped back a little, clasping my hands behind my back. I looked away from him and tried my best to keep my gaze off of his.

"Oh, don't let him scare you." The blonde girl said, coming up beside Derek with a wide smile. She gave him one hard pat on the shoulder. "He's not that scary. I'm Erica." She held her hand out to me and I grasped it, giving it a shake.

"Training starts tomorrow." Derek said, shoving Erica out of the way before she could say anything else. She rolled her eyes and walked back over to the group of teenagers standing a few feet away. "The full moon's in a two weeks and you need to be prepared."

I raised my eyebrows. "Prepared for what?"

He stared at me and said, deadpan, "To lose control."

My eyes grew wide and my lips formed a small 'o'. My eyes flicked up at Allison and she gave me a small reassuring smile. I tried to return one, but losing control? Yeah, that was nothing to smile about.

Five minutes later, the awkwardness that had flooded the room finally settled and now we were all conversing like if we were normal teenagers. (We basically were, just having been thrown in a world of magic and things that shouldn't exist.) Derek asked me one on one what had happened to me. What had caused me to turn into a werewolf. I was sure Allison had already told him, but he needed to hear it from me as well. So I told my story again and it still hurt all the same. He explained to me the eye thing; the golden yellow, the steel electric blue, and the crimson red. He told me what to expect from the full moon and the urges that would fill me the day of it. Once he was done briefing me on some things, he gave my shoulder a pat, a small, reassuring smile, and then he walked away to go join Stiles on the couch. They sat side by side, their legs touching. He had his arm thrown around Stiles' shoulders and Stiles had his head resting on his shoulder. The firm creases on Derek's forehead started to smooth out and his constant scowl was replaced by a gentle upturn of his lips. Together, they looked content. They looked happy.

I smiled slightly, hoping that one day I would be able to find that much contentment and happiness with someone. Or even alone. You have to first find happiness in yourself before you can find it with other people. At least, that's what I've always been told. But I've been told a lot of things. Like werewolves are blood thirsty monsters and they must all be killed. Some things I know to be false (in most cases), others, I know to be true. Some, I'm still trying to sort out. It's hard to leave a life you knew for seventeen years behind. All the things drilled into your head about life and death and fighting and the greater good. Though I didn't believe most of them, it was still etched into my brain and I was going to have to do some serious inventory in my head to sort it all out.

I had time, though. I had time.

My eyes scanned over the room. Erica and Boyd were sitting on a smaller couch together; she was in his lap. They were talking in low voices, sharing smiles and secrets. Allison, Lydia, and Scott were sitting on the floor, engrossed in a conversation. The boy with the sharp cheekbones, Isaac I learned was his name, was sitting with them, but when he caught me looking, he stood up. I quickly turned away and stared out the window I was standing in front of. The sun had started to set, casing an orange and pink glow to the sky. In the distance I could see a little sliver of the moon starting to rise.

Isaac stepped up beside me, but before he could say anything, the door to the loft opened and we all turned to see who it was. A tall man was standing in the doorway, tan skin, light brown hair, shining blue eyes, a snarky smirk on his face.

"Someone was having a party and they didn't invite me? How rude." He said in mock offense as he entered the loft, shutting the door behind him. No one even bothered to pay him any attention as he walked farther into the room, and he rolled his eyes dramatically.

"Who's that?" I whispered to Isaac.

"Peter." He grumbled, rolling his eyes so heavily I thought they were going to get stuck in the back of his head.

My eyes grew wide and my breath hitched. "_Hale_? The one who killed his niece and turned Scott and killed Kate? The one who was killed by Derek and then brought back to life because he was mind controlling Lydia? _That_ Peter?"

He nodded, considering my words. "Yep, sounds about right."

"Why the hell is still around?" I asked a little louder. I knew he heard me because his eyes flicked to me and he gave me a deep scowl. I raised an eyebrow. From my peripheral vision I could see Derek trying to not smirk.

Isaac shrugged and crossed his arms. A look of confusion passed over his features as he thought about my question. Finally, he dropped his arms in exasperation and answered, "You know, I really don't know."

"He's a psycho." I noted.

"Undoubtedly." He agreed.

I turned back towards the window, crossing my arms lightly over my chest. "He's staring at me. It's uncomfortable." I grumbled, running a hand through my hair.

"Yeah, he's good at that." We grew quiet, staring out the large window overlooking part of the town. After a few seconds he asked, "So you're staying in Beacon Hills?"

I smiled a little at his tactics for small talk. "Uh, yeah, that's the plan. I have nowhere else to go and Allison's the only family I have left, so." I shrugged and dropped my arms, images of Ella smiling flashing through my brain and resonating there like a fog.

She was smiling the night she died. We had just gotten out of the movie theater. We'd seen Iron Man 2 and she was quoting her favorite parts. She was the biggest Iron Man fan I knew, and it was adorable the way she talked about it. That was the last time I ever saw her smile.

"Huh? What?" I was brought out of my memories by Isaac's voice. I flicked my eyes up at him and then looked back out the window, taking a deep breath to steady myself.

He furrowed his eyebrows and repeated the question, "I asked if you're going to start school?"

I nodded curtly. "Yeah. Chris is going to…" I trailed off, sensing a change in the atmosphere. I turned around and saw Derek and the other werewolves standing, quiet, listening. Isaac tensed beside me and I concentrated on trying to hear something outside of the building. But there was nothing.

Until a shrieking alarm started pulsing in our ears. The lights went out and Isaac yanked me away from the window. I could hear Derek and Scott growling from a few feet away. The feel of uneasiness was gone as quickly as it appeared and then the lights came back on. Everyone was wolfed out except for Isaac and I. Lydia and Stiles' hands were glowing white. Allison had a small dagger drawn.

_Wow_. They didn't play around.

I cleared my throat and Isaac let me go, stepping away from me with a light blush spreading across his face. Everyone's eyes were glued to the window behind me. I turned around slowly and saw jagged lines forming a weird looking circle in the middle of the window, the red paint dripping down the glass.

"What…the hell is that?" I asked, my heart hammering in my sternum.

"It's their symbol." Scott answered.

"_Who's_ symbol?" I asked with narrowed eyes. I searched Allison's face from across the room but she wouldn't look at me. My heart skipped a beat.

"Alphas." Peter answered from across the room aloofly. "An alpha pack. Welcome to Beacon Hills." He said with a little wink.

My pulse spiked. "No one mentioned there was a pack of alphas here."

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**A/N: Please review and let me know what you think!**


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